Blast Corps

Explosions. Admit it, you love to watch them. You've probably observed building demolitions on TV, seen large structures come crashing down in a grand display of flame and dust. Perhaps you've dreamed of being there and having a hand in the destruction itself. Well, now you can.

Blast Corps is an organization devoted to creatively destroying things that need to be destroyed. While the game does have a story, and a few non-destructive mini-levels, the focus is to blow stuff up. A lot of stuff.

Blast Corps makes you a member of the Blast Corps organization, who uses their unusual machines (more on this later) to level buildings. The premise of the game is that a nuclear missile truck has run into a slight snag - a small leak has killed the drivers of the truck, and the automatic pilot system for the truck has put it in a fixed path towards a safe detonation zone to keep the missiles from destroying everything. Unfortunately, there are tons of towns and buildings in this path, and if the truck hits any of them, the entire country will become a baked potato. So, Blast Corps has to destroy all the buildings in the way - and also gather a few nuclear scientists to help prepare for the detonation. Altogether, it's a good excuse to make things go boom.

You already know that you're going to blow stuff up in the game - but how? You'll have a variety of vehicles to destroy buildings, including a bulldozer, a dump truck, a giant robot that rolls into things, a motorcycle with rocket launchers, and more (plus some non-destructive vehicles for racing around, like a muscle car and Mr. T's van). Each vehicle has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you'll have to adapt whatever one you have to the particular level you're in in order to clear out a path for the carrier. Most of the vehicles are hideously fun to use in your quest for destruction, typically by ramming headlong into structural targets. There are dozens of main levels, plus dozens more bonus levels (some are destroying things just for the sake of destroying things, some are races, and some are something else entirely). And once you complete the main game, your goals will extend outside the planet (dun dun dunnn).

Blast Corps's graphics are fairly good. They're nothing phenomenal, but they get the point across. The game's explosions are very fun to watch. Sound effects fit the game quite well, and the musical themes are nicely composed and executed.

Admittedly, Blast Corps is not a long game - but it makes up for this with a fairly large dose of replay value. You can earn medals (bronze silver, gold, and later, platinum) on every level depending on what/how well you do. There are a ton of bonus levels that you can unlock, and even some bonus levels unlocked from within bonus levels, which provide a distraction from the standard save-the-carrier gameplay. Plus, blowing stuff up is just plain fun.

N64 owners should play this game at least once. After all, who doesn't like blowing stuff up?

Progress: Complete